Yes, Call of Duty is bigger than Twilight

For me, the best thing about the release of Twilight Breaking Dawn is that the whole damn saga is finally over.

I’m not a hardcore Twilight hater like many out there, and anything that’s keeping the book business alive is alright by me, but I’m definitely glad it’s finally all over and done, and probably at the right time, because its current audience is probably on the verge of growing out of the whole phenomenon.

Interestingly enough, gaming is currently bigger than Twilight. Actually, right now gaming is making bigger money than mainstream Hollywood, because what movie can make $500 million in a day?

When Microsoft bragged that Halo 4 would probably be bigger than The Avengers, you could at first blow it off as little more than sheer bravado from Redmond. But as the first week sales of Halo 4, and the first day sales of Call of Duty Black Ops 2 have proven, the era where games were making more money than Hollywood is back with a vengeance.

As the head of a gaming consulting firm told EOnline, "To put it in comparison, it’s larger than most Hollywood blockbuster opening weekends. Call of Duty belongs to this pantheon of games which have actually transcended to become pop-culture phenomena, and therefore command an audience in millions."

EOnline also compared Call of Duty to other blockbuster phenomenon, like The Avengers, which made less than half of Call of Duty’s first day gross in its opening weekend. Also in comparison to Halo and Call of Duty’s grosses, The Dark Knight Rises made $160 million its first weekend, $447 million total domestic. And the current installment of Twilight, Breaking Dawn Part 2, is considered to be lagging behind the previous episodes, even though with a $158 million projected opening weekend, it’s still doing just fine all things considered.

What’s also insane is the Halo 4 and Call of Duty grosses also blew the Superbowl out the door, at least in terms of ad revenue. The Bowl made $245 million in ad sales last year, which, while noteworthy, still falls behind the Halo and CoD grosses.

It’s always important to keep in mind that the gaming market is very unpredictable, and there have been a number of severe ups and downs that came with little warning. But for right here, right now, some majory players are doing amazing business.